Hodgson faces a backlash for benching Harry Kane... but Danny Welbeck was the RIGHT choice

There was outrage at Wembley last night when the Three Lions boss refused to give a 21-year-old striker in the middle of his first good season at club level an international start at the first time of asking.

A player who has had four training sessions with his new England colleagues and is being hailed as the new saviour of our national team.

The hyperbole has started and there might be nothing Hodgson can do to stop it, but he can at least do his best to slow it down for the sake of sanity and the long-term future of a special talent.

Kane is definitely able, but Hodgson’s decision to make him wait looked like the work of genius considering the effect it had on Danny Welbeck.

By the time the man now known as the ‘Hurricane’ breezed into the action on 70 minutes to a deafening ovation, Welbeck had set-up one goal, scored another himself and left his manager with a resounding reason to gloat, even if Hodgson is far too polite to do so.

GENIUS: Welbeck put in a fantastic performance for England [GETTY]

It was Welbeck’s clever run and shot that forced the opening that allowed Rooney to open the scoring inside six minutes.

The same Welbeck who has been a pivotal figure in England’s qualification campaign so far, scoring five goals in his side’s last four competitive wins prior to last night’s visit of Lithuania.

It was Welbeck’s impressive brace to sink Switzerland in Basel in September that set Hodgson’s men on the road to a faultless campaign so far.

People have short memories in the fickle world of football, but thankfully Hodgson doesn’t.

Kane has been a breath of fresh air this season at a time when the mourning process from last summer’s World Cup shambles has lingered.

Yet he needs to understand that he cannot walk straight into an England team that is winning games because of a successful formula - irrespective of how poor the opposition might be.

The clamour for Kane is understandable because, let’s face it, when is the last time someone came along who generated such excitement?

Kane did little to dampen his box office appeal by scoring with his second touch 80 seconds into debut as his remarkable season scaled even greater heights.

Yet there is a bigger picture at stake and Hodgson knows it, because the least we expect from him is fairness towards those who have taken England into a commanding position at the top of Group E.

Dropping Welbeck would have been a real kick-in-the-teeth for the Arsenal star and while Hodgson might be renowned for caution, common sense is also one of his strengths.

Managers at all levels have a duty to protect players, especially ones that have the potential for genuine superstardom.

That’s because the giant fall back down to earth can be as quick as the journey to the clouds in the first place.

MADE TO WAIT: Roy Hodgson was right to bench Harry Kane [GETTY]

Kane hasn’t even played in the Champions League yet and that’s a standard that far exceeds what was on show here.

Leighton Baines has never played in football’s elite club competition either and it shows, because he is not good enough at this level.

The same can be said of Phil Jagielka too; events in Brazil proved this.

Welbeck, on the other hand, was outstanding in the Gunners’ 2-0 win in Monaco last week even if his efforts ended in glorious failure.

It all comes down to trust and Welbeck has earned Hodgson’s. Just like he earned Sir Alex Ferguson’s at Manchester United.

So it was fitting that Welbeck added to his impressive goal tally on the stroke of half time last night as England won their first seven games in a season for the first time in history.

Kane might be riding the crest of a wave right now but Hodgson’s men are in seventh heaven largely because of Welbeck.

People should remember this, not to mention the fact David Nugent and Franny Jeffers also scored on their England debuts - and look what happened to them.